When it comes to "stickin' it to the man" I tend to envision a Rage Against the Machine concert: a lot of anger, a lot of yelling, and if you saw Rage's show at Lollapalooza a couple years back (which I did), a lot of people throwing water bottles filled with urine. In the end the anger is what I tend to be left with when examining those in our world who take advantage of others for their own gain. But the reason I think I like this film is that it gave me a very different vision of how to deal with those feelings of injustice.

When sifting through this year's favorite albums, it did not take us long to deem David Bazan's Curse Your Branches "Album of the Year."  As we have already mentioned, recognizing particular artists/albums over others often says more about the listeners than it does the artist themselves.  We acknowledge this.

So, what does it say about us?

While rednoW is not solely dedicated to the fusion of art and theology, it certainly grabs our attention when it shows up.  And with Bazan's most autobiographical album to date, it has certainly shown up.  But it's not Bazan's particular theology that draws us in.  Rather, it is his ability to rest in the tension of reality - even if this means questioning his (our) perception of God.

rednoW Favorites 2009

Year-end "lists" are a funny thing.  They often say more about its contributor(s) than it does than the very thing it is hoping to promote.  We are okay with this.  It has been our mantra since the inception of rednoW to simply point others to experiences of wonder.  These two lists (music, film) are attempting to do nothing else.

Films

Few things cultivate wonder in us more than the marriage of story, images and song. If you are looking for a way to bring a little wonder into your rental queue, allow us to make a few recommendations. Compiled by the rednoW team, our Films of Wonder 2009 are listed by US release date rather than some ranking of 'greateness' - if they made the list, we think they are worth your time and money. Soon we will announce our rednoW film (and album) of the year.

Think we missed something? Tell us what and why....we're all ears.

"What does he know?"

This is, throughout the ravaged landscape of The Book of Eli, the unavoidable question we ask of the title character.  Denzel Washington plays Eli, a wanderer both desperate and serene, who trudges slowly and purposefully West.  Hidden in his satchel, along with the necessities for physical survival in post-apocalyptic America, is a Holy Book, Eli's spiritual sustenance in a world that- quite literally- would like nothing more than to devour him.  We are given only small clues of the brutalizing past that left the world coated in dust and misery, but the desperate and thirsty present proves no place for a lone traveler.  Unless, like Eli, that traveler possesses an otherworldly sixth sense and the ability to dispatch with anyone who threatens his journey.  What does Eli know about his book?  Is it madness or a spiritual quest that wakes him each morning, set for another day under the punishing sun?